


when the stars collide

by roguewn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Modern AU, PG13 for swear words and slutty kisses, Romance, Rose is an accidental matchmaker, Strangers to Lovers, it all happened one night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22274509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roguewn/pseuds/roguewn
Summary: Rose and Rey are debating the latest Space Skirmish movie. Rose insists a kiss was romantic and Rey jokes that it was a thank-you-for-saving-me kiss. Rose dares her to kiss the next guy who holds the door open for her.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 104
Kudos: 573
Collections: Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)





	when the stars collide

**Author's Note:**

>   
> **This is for Alex who bullied me into writing this, so if it's bad you can blame her!** (Jk, I love you Alex. But if it's bad you can still blame her!)
> 
> Fill in for Reylo Prompts: _Rose and Rey are debating the latest Space Skirmish movie. Rose insists a kiss was romantic and Rey jokes that it was a thank-you-for-saving-me kiss. Rose dares her to kiss the next guy who holds the door open for her._

  
  
  


**when the stars collide**

Rey raises an eyebrow. “Are you serious right now,” it’s not even a question, rather a comment on her best friend’s behavior. Her best friend’s _eccentric_ behavior.

Rose wipes her cheeks as they walk out of the theatre. She sobs, then she sighs in defeat, then again she stops in the middle of the sidewalk and clenches her fist to the sky in anger. “Just why! WHY!”

Rey is tempted to wrap her jacket around her head and drag her away from the public eye. Instead, she simply tugs at her sleeve and tries to ignore all the stares. “Can you stop please,” she mimics with the corner of her mouth.

“Why did they have to kill him? I don’t understand,” Rose continues, and a guy who was just walking in looks at her in shock and goes, “What the fuck? So the rumors _were_ true? Fucking thank you for the spoilers!”

“You need to go in prepared, you’ll thank me later!” Rose spits back through the tears and it’s only luck that said guy doesn’t walk back out to jump at her throat because Rey figures she’d deserve it.

Rose has always been a much bigger fan of Space Skirmish than Rey is, but her enthusiasm ended up dragging Rey into the fandom as well, even though their opinion on… basically everything couldn’t be more different.

Which is why Rey wasn’t sure it would be a good idea to watch the very last movie of the saga together. And indeed, from Rose’s reaction she fears it was not.

A subway ride later, they’re back at the small apartment they have been sharing for a couple years now. And Rose is still crying.

“Oh, come on,” Rey says, hanging her jacket at the entrance. “Everyone knew he was going to die. He did so many bad things!”

Rose snaps around armed only with her swollen eyes and a very threatening finger pointed at her. 

“Don’t you _dare_ ,” she says through gritted teeth. “They set up his character to be the opposite of Anarchyn, he shouldn’t have died! He never got a chance to live, to marry, to have kids with…” she sighs, her shoulders deflating. 

But then, a smile.

And Rey knows they’re about to get into some real fight, because what Rose says next is…

“ _Oh_ , but that _kiss_.”

And it’s not what she says, but rather the way she says it. Clasped hands and dreamy eyes full of wonder.

“It was such a wonderful, true love kiss. And she started it! She loved him so much and they didn’t even get their happy ending, this is so unfair.”

And Rey does the last thing she should have done. In her defense, she can’t help it.

She laughs.

“Excuse me? True love kiss?” she walks into the living room and crashes on the sofa. “She was just grateful he saved her! It was her thank you to him, nothing more.”

Rose remains stiff at the entrance. “You didn’t just say that.”

“ _Please_ , spare me. It would be foolish to read anything into that kiss, nothing in the trilogy has set them up romantically.”

Rey hears Rose’s angry steps first and feels her weight crashing violently on the sofa beside her second, missing Rey just for a few inches, which is curious and probably an attempted murder gone wrong.

“Nothing? _Nothing_ ? Rey, where _the fuck_ have you been these past four years.”

 _Here we go_ , Rey thinks. Rose used the f word. There’s gonna be a murder tonight.

She starts counting in her head while Rose takes a deep breath. 

Three, 

two, 

_one_ …

“He knew about her before he even met her and the interrogation scene? They were into each other’s _minds_ ! Then she slashed his freaking face and he was just in love from that point on. The Energy Bond? The confessions? The hand-holding?! He practically asked for her hand in marriage, _twice_ ! And she was _thiiis_ close to accept it. And then she saved his life and he saved her in return and she kissed him like she had been waiting to do that for three fucking movies! You can’t tell me that was a thank you kiss, what the fuck is even a _thank you kiss_?!”

Rey wonders if Rose has some superpowers. Because it feels to her they just watched three hours of one fine mess of a movie – _twice_ , because they had pre-ordered tickets before knowing it would be such a disgrace – and her head is exploding, while Rose seems eager to add another headache to her headache. And she’s the one who cried for six hours, so she should have some after-effect.

“Listen,” she says, rubbing her temples. “You can rant all night, but it won’t change the fact that there was nothing romantic about that kiss. She was probably caught up in the emotion of the moment and went for it without thinking. She didn’t even seem that sad that he died, after that.”

“That’s because the movie was poorly-made,” Rose mumbles, arms crossed.

Rey raises her index finger. “Agree. So, can we stop talking about it? Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

She rests her head back and kicks away her shoes, taking a deep breath. Rose doesn’t seem to move, or at least Rey doesn’t hear her. But she keeps her eyes closed.

“Rey.”

Yep, she’s still there.

“Mh?”

“From one to ten, how sure are you that it was just a thank you kiss?”

“Twelve.”

“Would you prove it to me?”

Rey chuckles. “If there was _any_ way to convince an hardcore shipper like you that–”

“The next guy who holds the door open for you.” 

Rey opens her eyes and frowns. She sits up and looks at Rose. “What?”

Rose is so serious that she looks almost scary and that’s just something that _never_ happens.

“I dare you to kiss the next guy who holds the door open for you. As a thank you.”

Rey smirks. “Very funny.”

“I’m not joking.”

“Rose, what the fuck.”

“ _That_ , or you admit that it was a romantic kiss.” And before Rey can reply, she adds: “ _And_ you will never hear me stop talking about how much of a fool you’ve been for four. Entire. Years.”

Rey sinks further into the sofa. She knows that means she has two options: kiss a random guy or leave for the South Pole and never come back because there is _no_ way she can keep living with Rose reminding her every single day about that fucking ship. And she’s lived with her long enough to know Rose would go as far as camping outside Rey’s future kids’ school just to keep her promise even ten years from now.

Therefore, Rey sighs.

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

Rose can already taste the sweet flavor of victory.

  
  
  
  


*

  
  
  


“This is not music.”

Rose turns around, big smile spread across her face. “What??”

“This is not music!” Rey repeats, louder. She doubts her voice will reach Rose’s ears anyway. Not in that wild crowd.

“Yeah, I love this music too!” Rose screams and proceeds to head-bang to the song like she was born to be in a metal band rather than being an engineer. 

Jannah and Rey exchange a knowing look. “Leave her be,” Jannah mouths.

“It’s not like you were not doing the same five minutes ago,” Rey replies, smug grin across her face.

“You’re the only one not having fun, Mrs. Grinch,” Jannah retorts, same smirk on her lips.

Rey rolls her eyes. She has decided to call that weekend the Regret Weekend.

She regrets accepting to follow Rose and Jannah to this… hip hop concert or whatever.

She regrets watching that fucking Space Skirmish movie the night before.

She regrets accepting the kiss dare. 

_Oh_ , how much she regrets that. She has spent the past twelve hours making sure no human being of the opposite sex gets the opportunity to open a door for her. It was particularly awkward that morning, when she went to get breakfast at the usual cafe and a man, seeing her hands busy with the coffee cups, offered to keep the door open for her.

Rey stood there. Frozen. The coffee slowly getting colder in her hands as she waited for someone else to take up on his offer and walk out before her.

The man must have thought she was crazy. In all fairness, Rey is starting to think the same.

Now, she’s standing in the middle of a head-banging crowd full of people who clearly don’t wash themselves as much as they think they do, and the ‘singer’ on the stage isn’t even singing. He’s literally just… talking very quickly to some heavy drum beat? _How_ is that music?

 _Ok, enough_ , she pats on Rose’s and Jannah’s shoulders.

“It’s our favorite song!” Rose says. Her hair has a life of its own by now.

“I’m going to the restroom!” Rey signs.

Jannah nods. “We’re coming with you!”

“No, don’t worry. I saw the security outside,” she smiles. “Enjoy your song!”

Rose frowns, clearly uncomfortable in letting her go on her own, but Rey has already made her way through the crowd.

The arena is round and the main hall is at the center of it, surrounded by a single, connecting corridor.

The security is nowhere to be seen, but there’s no one in the restroom, which is lucky because there is only one for both men and women. She checks every stall before locking herself in one, just in case. She doesn’t want to stay there longer than necessary, so as soon as she’s done, she quickly washes her hands and goes for the door.

And that’s when she bumps into someone.

“Oh, sorry,” says the guy – he’s very tall and he immediately takes a step back from her.

“Uh, nothing.”

She walks out, the door closing after her. She figures she should just go back to the girls, but the walls are vibrating with the powerful bass sounds and she’s getting a headache, so she decides to take a few minutes of fresh air instead. 

She texts Rose as she walks to the exit, even though she doubts her friend will see her text in that bedlam. She slips her phone back in the pocket of her oversized hoodie and she zips it up all the way. That’s when she realizes she doesn’t feel her house keys inside the pockets.

“Hey!”

Rey turns around. 

The restroom guy is running after her and he’s waving his arm. Rey sees the light reflected on her keys and her eyes grow wide.

“You dropped these,” he says once he reaches her. He’s very skinny, she notices. And when he smiles at her, she realizes he has a very big smile that somehow unsettles her.

She takes the keys. “Thank you, I was just looking for them.”

“No problem!” 

He sounds like a genuinely nice guy, but he doesn’t leave and for some reason he keeps staring at her. Maybe he expects some kind of reward just for picking up her keys? Sounds a bit exaggerated.

Rey’s headache is getting worse. She does a little nod. “Then…” 

She goes for the handle of the exit door, but he’s faster. He opens the door for her. 

“Taking some fresh air? Me too,” he explains, always smiling. “I’m Davin, by the way.”

Rey isn’t sure she should give her name to this Davin, but it seems rude not to. “Rey.”

He seems happy she decided to tell him and keeps the door open, waiting for her to go first like a gentleman.

Now, Rey remembers the dare. She sure does, it’s the only thing on her mind since the night before. But this Davin… is really not her type. Like, _really_. She can think of a list of unpleasant things she would rather do than kissing him.

But fate, that night, doesn’t seem to be on her side. In fact, as if one guy wasn’t enough, another man suddenly appears behind Davin. 

He’s taller, definitely larger and has a cigarette not yet lit hanging from his lips. He looks at both of them with a raised eyebrow.

“You done? I’d like to go out.” His voice is quite deep and has a fairly dangerous quirk to it. He doesn’t look like the kind of guy you would like to leave waiting.

Rey and Davin move aside, the door closing as they do so. The man pushes it open again and walks out, but stops just outside. He keeps it open with one hand – one big, _huge_ hand, Rey must say – while he lights his cigarette with the other.

He looks at them. They look at him. 

He looks at Rey.

“Weren’t you coming?”

That’s when it hits Rey. There is something in his eyes. It feels like he’s trying to send her a message and she gets shivers down her spine for no reason.

She can hear other voices outside, so they certainly wouldn’t be alone. She glances behind her: the corridor looks quite darker than it was before and there is no one in sight. Suddenly, it doesn’t look _safe_.

She walks out.

As soon as she does, the man slams the door closed and rests his wide back against it, shielding the cigarette with one hand as he keeps fighting against his lighter.

From the inside, Davin is bumping his fists on the door. “Hey! What the fuck!”

The man seems unbothered. He just stands there like he’s not effortlessly blocking a huge door with only his body. He takes a drag from his cigarette, slowly. Rey is impressed.

“Asshole!” Davin eventually shouts. And then, it’s silent again.

Rey sinks both hands inside the pockets of her hoodie. “Ok, what has just happened?”

The man blows some smoke into the night sky. “What do you think?”

She frowns. What kind of game is he playing?

“You were sending me some signals back there, or did I dream that?” She feels stupid for even saying it out loud. But the man’s behavior is pretty weird. Not in a creepy way, just… odd.

He shifts some locks of his dark hair behind his ears, but they keep falling in front of his face. It almost reaches his shoulders, but long hair looks good on him.

Rey realizes she’s taking in too many details and wishes she could just stop.

He takes another drag and she steps back almost abruptly. He glances at her.

“I… can’t stand the smell,” she explains, awkwardly. 

He frowns, blowing the smoke away from her as he keeps their eye-contact. Then, he sighs and drops the still-quite-intact cigarette on the ground, stepping on it until it’s out.

“He was following you.”

“...What?”

He sinks both hands in the pockets of his denim jacket, resting his head against the door. He closes his eyes like he’s extremely tired.

“He left the concert after you.”

Rey can’t begin to comprehend what he’s saying. Panic, confusion, fear and disgust all equally mix up inside of her. Panic wins, of course. She takes a further step back. 

“How– How did you know? Have you been following me as well?”

She looks around. There are other people in close proximity, smoking, talking. She’s quite sure she spotted the security guards in the distance.

He doesn’t seem worried. “I just happened to be close behind you. I noticed that he kept staring at you and your friend, then he left as soon as you did. I knew something was off, so I–”

“You _knew_?” She cuts him off, voice strained. “You want me to believe that?”

“You can believe whatever you want.” He stares right into her eyes and smirks. “It doesn’t change the fact that I just saved you.”

She doesn’t like the way he’s looking at her. At all. 

She takes running in the opposite direction. She isn’t a fool, she is a full grown adult woman who has been in this world long enough to recognize a creep when she sees one. He really thought he could fool her like that? “ _I just saved you_ ”? Please, Rey has _unfortunately_ met smarter perverts than that.

“Hey!” She calls, once she’s close enough to the security. She stops to take a breath and she can feel their eyes on her. “Can– Can you help me? There’s a man who has been following me and–”

“Yo, Dameron.”

Rey stares in disbelief as the dark-haired man approaches them with all the tranquility in the world. He followed her. _Again_. 

Not only that, but the guards even fist-bump him in a friendly manner.

“Solo, what have you been up to?” says the first guard, a black man with deep brown eyes.

“The usual, you know,” he shrugs, “family business.”

“What a rich asshole,” says the other guard. He’s the shortest among the three, but probably the most handsome. “We miss you, why don’t you come back to security? Your place is still there if you want to.”

Rey moves her eyes between the three. As she does so, she starts connecting the dots. 

Her mouth opens and she shamelessly points her finger at the big man.

“You’re… into security.”

He turns around, seemingly not bothered by her attempt to report him. “I was, yeah.”

It dawns on her all of a sudden and she’d gladly facepalm herself now. “So that’s why you…” 

“...why I know how to spot those perverts? You can say so, I guess.”

His victorious smile is too much to handle. Rey wishes she could just slam some magic powder on the ground and disappear in a cloud of smoke. 

The handsome guard looks at her and at his friend. “Wait– she was going to report _you_? What the fuck have you done, Ben?” 

_Ben_. 

That’s his name. It sounds like a good guy name, indeed.

Rey feels like she needs to step in before things get out of hand.

“Nothing! He’s done nothing wrong.” She swallows her pride. She’s at fault, after all. “Actually, he helped me…” 

She merely steals a very shy glance at the dark-haired man. He straightens up like he’s been just hit in the face.

“Thank you,” she says, softly. She means it.

Then proceeds to turn on her heels and walk away from them as fast as possible.

“Hey, wait a minute–” Ben looks at his ex-colleagues. They’re smirking and he rolls his eyes. “You should look for a white man around his thirties, dark jeans and green sweater. He’s going around targeting the girls at the concert. He’s more or less as tall as you, Finn, and he has white sneakers.”

He doesn’t wait for their reply. He jogs after Rey who’s headed for the door. Rey, who is mentally slapping herself over and over. Rey, who just made herself look like an ass when someone was just trying to protect her. Rey, who– 

“Hey, Rey.”

Rey stops in her tracks and turns around. It’s him, of course. This is getting weirder by the second. “How do you know my name?”

“I overheard it. Sorry?” He doesn’t look sorry at all.

“...Fine. Tell me, _Ben_.”

He cracks a smile. She’s a tough one, he could tell from the very first moment. He walks by her side. 

“If you want to go back in, maybe it’s better if you’re not alone. That guy is probably still around. I told my friends about him, they’ll catch him.”

Rey raises an eyebrow. “Are you… offering to be my personal bodyguard or something?”

He shrugs. “If you want to. It’s my job in the end– I mean, it was.”

“I don’t need protection. My friends are inside.” She eyes him up and down. “And I don’t really know you?”

Ben smiles. She’s difficult, _oh_ so difficult. He likes that.

“I can just walk you in and let you be on your way.” He places his palm over his heart. “It would make me feel better to know the princess is safe.”

Rey’s cheeks take just the slightest shade of pink. Who does he think he is to talk to her like that?

And why does she like it?

“...I guess it’s fine. That guy was creepy, after all.”

He opens the door for her. “Yeah, he was.”

Rey is about to step in, when she freezes. 

Oh, _no_. 

It’s happening. 

He’s holding the door open for her and if she walks in, she has to kiss him.

Actually, she realizes he has already opened the door for her before, but that was an emergency and she hoped it wouldn’t count? She wishes they had written down the rules of this awful game.

Well, she figures, maybe the previous instance didn’t count, but if she takes up on his offer again, she’s going to seal her fate.

She takes a step back.

It’s Ben’s turn to look her up and down. “What’s wrong?”

Rey is staring intently at her Converse. She shifts her weight from one foot to another and blurts something out really quickly.

“What?”

“You can’t hold the door for me!” She repeats louder, effectively almost screaming in his face.

Ben retreats a little and frowns so deeply his eyebrows almost touch. She seems to be a very emotional person and his first instinct in these situations is always to be the composed one. “And why is that?” He asks, calmly.

Rey’s mind is in chaos. What can she tell him? There’s no way she’s going to tell him the truth, he would think she’s insane or _worse_ , he would try to _actually_ kiss her.

She steals a glance at his lips. He has a pair of full, rosy lips that actually… don’t look bad at all.

_Oh my god, get a hold of yourself, Rey!_

Either way, she’s going to make a fool of herself and she’s aware of it. So she goes for the less ridiculous explanation.

“Because… Because I am a strong independent woman who doesn’t need men holding doors open for her!”

She really says it with her whole chest, looking at him in all seriousness, pride and all. She screams at her own brain – _this is the less ridiculous explanation you could come up with?!_

She’s a fucking fool, she realizes. She can already hear his laugh echoing across the parking lot. Not that she knows how his laugh sounds like, but. 

Again, where is the magic powder that makes you disappear in a cloud of smoke when you need it?

Ben, though… he surprises her. He doesn’t laugh. He’s not even smiling. And he doesn’t look upset either.

“Alright then.” 

He walks in first and slams the door behind him. Rey flinches. Ok, maybe he _is_ upset.

But then, his voice reaches her from the inside. “Is the door close enough? I really want to leave you the whole pleasure of opening it!”

Sometimes the stars collide and someone just as weird as you comes into your life. That, or Rey just got really lucky that night.

Either way, Rey smiles. He’s an asshole, _oh_ such an asshole. 

She likes that.

  
  
  


*

  
  
  


The place is more crowded than before, or so it seems. Rey has a hard time reaching her sector, but at every step she feels Ben’s overwhelming presence behind her. If he looked tall before, now that they’re surrounded by people who are mostly shorter than him, Rey really feels like she’s in the company of a giant.

“Where are your friends?” He yells.

“No idea!” She yells back and indeed, she can’t see neither Rose nor Jannah anywhere. It was quite stupid, now that she thinks about it – how did she think she was going to find them again among that sea of people?

She eventually spots an empty corner near the barriers and she settles there. It’s quite far from the stage, but it’s not like she cares about whoever is fake-singing up there. Ben is immediately by her side and she looks up at him. The last song has faded and the band is doing the talk. It’s quieter.

“You don’t have to do this, I’ll find my friends eventually.”

He shrugs, his eyes always scanning the crowd. “Occupational hazard. I spotted a few people I don’t like. And you’re…” he glances down at her.

Rey instinctively does the same and is suddenly reminded of what she’s wearing that night: denim shorts, the oversized hoodie and a crop top that says ‘I’m a virgin (this is an old shirt)’. She frowns – she doesn’t like where the conversation is going.

“I can wear whatever I want, people shouldn’t feel allowed to–”

“No, don’t get me wrong. I agree,” Ben says, both hands raised in defense. “It’s just that you’re really pretty.”

Rey, who was about to start a rant that could very well go on for an hour, finds herself at a loss for words. Her mouth hangs open for a while longer that it’s supposed to, until she realizes it and presses her lips together, carefully avoiding his stare.

Ben fully realizes what he has just said, so he leans down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” He mumbles beside her ear. “I’m not flirting, I’m just… stating the obvious.” 

Rey hears him saying that he’s not flirting, but can’t deny that his low, warm voice in her ear seems to mean all the contrary. Then again, that’s just how his voice sounds and she’s probably reading way too much into it anyway.

The next song starts abruptly with an explosive drum beat and a deafening guitar riff, cutting off their conversation for good. The first ten seconds are enough for Rey to realize she really doesn’t want to be there anymore. She shrinks and sits on the floor, legs pulled against her chest.

She must look really miserable because immediately, Ben crouches down in front of her with a sympathetic look.

“Wanna leave this place?” He yells over the music.

She shrugs. “Where can we go?”

He smirks. “Anywhere but here?”

Rey considers his proposal. She’s aware that this is something that just doesn’t happen anymore. Two people meeting by chance and deciding to spend some time together when they haven’t been introduced by friends of friends or chatted for months before they meet? The risk is too big. He could be a very clever pervert, a murderer or who knows what kind of freak. Rey truly doesn’t know how people managed to socialize when Internet didn’t exist and you couldn’t have a complete profile of the person you were going to meet before you even met them.

Still, he saved her; she has a good feeling about him; she confirmed his background as a security guard; she really, _really_ , hates this concert; and she has pepper spray in her pocket. What can go wrong?

Ben extends his hand to her. Without hesitation, Rey takes it.

“Let’s get out of here.”

  
  
  


*

  
  


He has a thing for opening doors for women and being a gentleman in general. The realization really hits Rey when they board the last subway train without even checking its direction, just because they thought it would be fun to get lost for a while and not worry about anything.

Ben removes his jacket and places it on Rey’s seat, so that the bare skin of her thighs doesn’t have to touch the cold and probably unhygienic plastic underneath. He does it unprompted, like it’s just something that it’s usually done, and waits for her to sit before he does the same. Rey doesn’t remember the last time someone has been so kind to her without even knowing her.

The ride is long and there are just a few other people in their car. She doesn’t know who starts the conversation, but they’re suddenly deeply involved into it.

He tells her his father died when he was young and he had to leave school to help his mother, who runs a minimarket in their neighborhood. He recalls with a laugh how his mother, Leia, decided to call it ‘The Resistance’ because when the big corporations started building malls her and there, his mother’s store was the only survivor in the area. The community helped them keeping it open, he confesses. When asked why his colleagues thought he was rich, Ben simply tells her that it’s something they came up with when they heard him talking about his ‘family business’ and he never bothered to correct them. Rey can tell he’s someone who’s really sensitive and private.

On her part, Rey tells him her family is pretty average, but her parents married really young and their love died out too soon. They kept it together for her, but she knows they don’t love each other; she has known since she was six or seven years old. Because of that, she has always felt like they loved her like it was homework to them, rather than a genuine feeling. They never denied her anything, but it felt suffocating all the same. As soon as she could, she left her small town and tried for luck in the big city. Pretty boring story. She isn’t sure she’s found that luck yet, but she has Rose and her other friends and it’s not a bad life.

Time flies, and the conversation goes on like that, with them jumping from their families to their hobbies, from their favorite movies to their views on life and death. It’s curious to find out they mostly have very different views on everything, but they agree on the important things. Ben tells her that he took on several part-time jobs to make ends meet, but still dreams to find that one thing he’d really love to do for the rest of his life and hopes it’s something that allows him to make some good money because he wants to buy a big house for his mother; Rey confesses she’s in the same situation, still unsure on the direction her life should take and that sometimes she feels very small because all of her friends seem to know exactly where their lives are going.

“I don’t think we’re all born with instructions. I don’t think we’re all robots who are supposed to plan out their entire lives from the moment we step into the school system,” Ben says.

Rey is munching on a candy she bought from the vending machine before boarding the train. “True. Maybe I haven’t found myself yet because I’m not supposed to be there yet.”

Ben is left astounded for a moment, as if Rey has just voiced his exact thoughts. Then he smiles.

“Agree.”

When they reach the last stop, they’re both incredibly hungry, so they decide to share a couple of very bad burgers and some cold fries while sitting on the bench of the platform, because they only have a rough idea of where they are and to wander aimlessly at night doesn’t look like the safest option.

“I really don’t think there’s any more trains,” Rey laughs. She has her hood on and she’s gracelessly shoving a handful of fries inside her mouth. “How do we get home?” Despite the words, she doesn’t sound the least worried.

Ben shrugs, using a single fry to move the others to Rey’s side of the box. “We can always walk, we’re young.”

Rey makes a disapproving sound. “No way I’m walking that much.” She observes whatever Ben is doing with the fries. A chuckle escapes her lips as she asks, “What are you doing?”

“These ones are less stale, you can eat them,” he explains, not removing his eyes from his task.

Rey’s shoulder deflate as she stares at him with genuine curiosity. And maybe, just maybe, there’s also a hint of softness in her eyes as she does so. “How are you so kind? And _why_ – I mean, you’re a six-foot-something giant with arms bigger than a trunk, I’m sure people would just do what you want them to as soon as you spare them a look. Most people would use this to their advantage.”

Ben smiles at that, but the shadow that flickers inside his eyes doesn’t go unnoticed by Rey. He doesn’t say anything at first and to her it looks like a million different emotions run over his face, as if he’s debating what to say next or how much he should say. When he finally speaks, his voice is a little strained.

“When I was in high school, my father fell ill. My parents tried to hide it, but it was serious and they knew he would need therapy for the rest of his days. My life was suddenly much harder than the average high school student: I would go to school in the morning and I was at the hospital in the afternoon every single day, because my father needed assistance and my mother had to work at the store. I used to do my homework on the small bedside table of my father’s room and since there were other patients in the same room, I couldn’t even study properly– everything was so uncomfortable and in my fifteen-year-old mind it felt so unfair. I just wanted to be like the other kids my age and to not have these many responsibilities.”

Rey notices how he is absent-mindedly drawing invisible doodles on the bottom of the cardboard box with his fry, and how he is carefully avoiding to look at her or to even look up from it.

“Anyway, at some point my father got better and he came back home, but things didn’t really change. He couldn’t work, he spent most of his time in bed and he needed assistance, so I needed to always be there for him. It was hard. I never told anyone how I felt, but I started to act colder and more distant around him without doing it on purpose, but I think he noticed. I couldn’t help it, I was angry and I was frustrated. I loved him, but I also felt like I was missing so much of my life because of him, I felt trapped. So when my friends signed up for a school trip and I was told I couldn’t go because someone needed to stay with dad at home, I just exploded. I… I don’t remember what I said, but basically I started yelling in my mother’s face that it was just three days and that I deserved a break because my life was miserable and I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Ben takes a deep breath and Rey feels like he’s getting smaller and smaller on the bench. She feels the urge to hug him, but holds herself back from doing so.

Ben keeps avoiding her gaze and cracks a little smile that doesn’t look like a smile at all, “So they let me go on that stupid trip. God, if I think about it now, I don’t even remember where we went. Anyway, I really wanted to forget about my shitty life for the entire thing. I didn’t text, I didn’t call home, I pretended like my parents didn’t exist.” He exhales a shaky breath. “I got a call on the second day, from my father. I ignored it because I didn’t want to ‘ruin the fun’.”

He finally looks up to meet her gaze, a corner of his mouth lifted in a crooked smile. There is so much sadness in his eyes that Rey feels her own heart breaking.

“He was gone when I got home. Just like that.” 

He falls silent, but his lips move like he’s chewing on his emotions. “My father called me one last time to tell me that he loved me, and I didn’t take his call.” He spells every word as if he’s trying to torture himself, like he has probably done for years. Then, his expression shifts, if only just a little. “That’s when I swore I would always try to be the best person I can be. Kindness comes easy if you set your heart on it.”

Everything is still for a moment, and then Ben makes an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Rey doesn’t know how or why her conversations with this person have gotten so deep so quickly. She feels like she has talked more with Ben in the past few hours that she has with anyone else in her life, ever.

What she does know, though, is that while he’s trying to keep a stoic face, the hand on his lap is shaking, and she can’t hold back anymore. She reaches out and rests her small hand on his.

There are many things she could say in this situation, and every single one of them would be completely useless. She knows Ben’s father has never blamed him, and so does Ben. She knows they loved each other more than words can express, and so does Ben. She knows it’s not his fault, and she hopes Ben knows, too.

Instead of saying the same old useless crap people always say in these situations, she decides to share something about herself in return. Maybe to distract Ben, maybe to get it off her chest. Maybe for both reasons.

“Even if I knew there was something wrong about my parents since I was very little, I never really fully realized what it was until middle school. I always thought what happened in my house was normal – my parents barely talking, never kissing each other, never doing anything together, us never going anywhere for the holidays… I thought it was completely average. I thought they avoided showing affection in front of me for some inexplicable reason, or that we didn’t have enough money to go anywhere.” 

She takes a deep breath. “When I was in middle school, I made friends and I started visiting their homes. When I was there, I was forced to face a reality I didn’t know existed: families aren’t supposed to be like that. My friends’ parents were tender to each other and they related to their children in a way that was similar to the way my parents related to me, and at the same time completely different. It felt effortless and genuine from their part, and once I realized this truth, I think I completely ruined my ability to relate romantically with anyone from that point on. I couldn’t emote, I couldn't allow myself to fall in love.” She frowns. “Which, now that I think about it, probably made the happiness of all the guys who just wanted to hook up with me with no strings attached?”

Her expression is so funny that Ben can’t help but laugh, even if his eyes are still a little glassy. Rey relaxes immediately. Mission completed.

She realizes she is still holding his hand and she takes it back, quickly slipping it inside her pocket.

Ben doesn’t seem to mind. He’s staring at her with a spark in his eyes Rey can’t quite comprehend, but it scares her and makes her heart pound at the same time.

“I like talking to you, Rey,” he admits, voice as warm and as soft as velvet.

“I like talking to you, too, Ben,” Rey replies. “I wouldn’t mind to do this again sometime.”

“I wasn’t thinking of running away,” he says, laughing briefly, and soon after between them falls that kind of rare silence that is not uncomfortable and doesn’t need to be immediately filled with words.

Rey feels her body slowly leaning in, attracted to him like a planet to its sun. She doesn’t know why; she isn’t processing it rationally. But she sees in his eyes that he feels the same and he’s getting closer, too.

The cardboard box between them slips off the bench and falls to the ground along with their drinks. Luckily, they were almost empty, but it’s loud all the same and they both flinch and jump in opposite directions.

It takes them just a moment, a glance at the mess they made and one at each other, and they’re both laughing the tension away. 

Rey thinks maybe this is for the better and sinks back in her seat. Ben rests his head against the wall and his eyes fall on the opposite platform. He’s stunned for a moment.

“Oh, fuck,” he laughs.

Rey tries to ignore how the way he says ‘fuck’ just sent a shiver throughout her entire body and raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing, just… a stupid movie I watched the other day.” He nods at the posters hanging on the walls and Rey turns pale as soon as she reads the title. 

“You– You like Space Skirmish?”

Ben curls his lips and squints his eyes at the ceiling. “I’m not sure whether I should say that I like it or that I _liked_ it… since this last one was so fucking bad. They killed off my favorite character.” He freezes and immediately turns to face her with fear in his eyes. “Wait, did I just spoiler you?”

Rey shakes her head, amused. “No, I watched it yesterday. You sound like my best friend, she was heartbroken too.”

“Of course she is,” he snorts, his eyes fixed on the poster. “We waited three movies to see his happy ending and they just got rid of him for no reason! It’s a fucking crime, if you ask me…” but then, his expression softens, as if he’s suddenly thinking of something that truly pleases him. “Well, at least we found out he and Kira loved each other. That was good.”

Rey straightens her back as if she has just been bitten by a snake. “Oh no.”

Ben looks her up and down. “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those who thinks their kiss was romantic.”

“ _Of course_ it was romantic, Rey. Was there even a doubt?”

Rey deflates in her seat, hands sunk in her pockets. “I can’t believe this. It was _clearly_ a thank you kiss.”

Ben looks at her like she’s crazy. “Are you kidding me? _Who_ would ever _kiss_ someone like that as a thank you?”

Rey laughs. “Actually that’s funny because–” 

She stops. Bites her lower lip. _Fuck._

Ben gets closer. He’s intrigued. “Because?”

“Nevermind.”

“Because what?”

“I can’t tell you, it’s embarrassing.”

“Ok, _now_ I’m even more interested.”

Rey rolls her eyes and sighs. It’s useless, she’s in the game now – she might as well bite it and play.

She sits up and turns to face him. “So, my best friend – Rose – and I were discussing this same thing yesterday, she says it’s romantic, I say it’s not, one thing led to another and... she dared me to give a ‘thank you’ kiss to the first man who would hold the door open for me.” She takes a deep breath, “AndIaccepted.”

Rey hopes she’s talked fast enough for Ben not to understand a single thing and judging from his impassive expression, it might very well be the case.

Ben is processing every word of what he’s just heard. At first, he doesn’t really find it particularly embarrassing. He’s heard worse stories, to be very honest. His friends do crazier things when they’re drunk. But then, like lightning, he’s hit with the realization.

“Oh.” He says, lost in his thoughts.

“Oh?”

He looks at Rey. Her face is a mixture of hope and horror. She’s probably begging the gods to make Ben forget what happened that night.

His lips twitch. It’s _so_ not happening.

“So that’s why you were so…” he twirls his hand, trying to come up with a good word that isn’t offensive, “...peculiar.”

“You can say batshit crazy, that’s what I am anyway,” she’s craving the magical powder again. _So much._

Ben laughs. “I never thought you were. I liked that you were unusual and I don’t recall you saying anything wrong? Women are indeed strong and independent on their own.”

Rey crosses her arms, pouting. “Can you stop being so nice? It makes my skin crawl.”

Ben smirks. “So what was the deal?”

“Uhm?”

“What would happen if you lost the dare?”

“Oh,” Rey blushes. She feels like the story really only gets more idiotic the more she talks about it. “Basically I should move to the other side of the world because Rose would never stop bugging me about it.”

“Doesn’t sound so bad.”

“You _don’t know_ Rose.”

“Fair point.”

He shifts closer. Rey can smell the scent of his aftershave now. It’s too good, and that tells her he’s _too_ close and she should move away.

She doesn’t.

He is even more handsome when he’s this close. Rey can count the moles on his skin, like stars sprinkled across a very fair sky. She takes note of how his eyes shift back and forth from her eyes to her lips.

“Am I the first?” 

His warm breath hits her chin. Her cheeks are boiling hot and she panics. “No– No, I mean, I had some experiences…”

His chuckle is rough and low. “I mean, am I the first who held a door open for you since you accepted the dare?”

“Oh.” She is, in fact, so incredibly _stupid_. “Yes.”

“Well, that’s a problem,” his hand shifts inside her hood and he pulls it down, freeing the cascade of her brown hair. He moves some behind her ear, caressing her cheek with his thumb as he does so. He has crossed the point of no return in terms of proximity, their noses are brushing. “I would feel terribly guilty if you were to move on the other side of the world. I think... I need to do my best to help.”

Rey is already closing her eyes, so it’s not like her next words carry any conviction. “I mean, if– if you want to…”

Ben’s hand is on her nape now, tender but possessive at the same time. “Yes,” he mumbles on her lips. “I want to.”

He doesn’t kiss her. He _devours_ her. His lips take full possession of Rey’s, who’s left gasping for air as her hands grip on his shirt for dear life. 

One second into the kiss, Rey realizes that he might be a kind man, but the way he kisses matches the first impression she had of him – rough, overwhelming and so incredibly _hot_. Their lips chase each other endlessly and his free hand is suddenly behind her back, his strong arm wrapping around her small waist as if he’s scared of letting her go. 

She’s the one who opens her mouth to invite him and he doesn’t hesitate to take on her invitation. The way his mouth takes over hers makes her wonder how he would take possession of her in other ways and situations. The thought is enough for her brain to short out.

She’s had other dirty kisses, plenty of them actually, where hands slip everywhere, unspeakable words are said and filthy promises are made. This kiss isn’t any of that and yet it makes her more aroused than any of those. Ben’s hands don’t travel under her clothes and he doesn’t try to impress her with obscene words either. Rey knew he wouldn’t, he’s not that kind of guy and she already knows that for sure. And yet, the simple brushing of his fingertips against her neck, the way he possessively hold her close to his body, the way that kiss is anything but innocent – Rey doesn’t know how she has lived without. And she would love to push him more, to see if she can unleash the beast she’s sure hides underneath.

Ben bites at her lips, nibbles at them, traces them with his tongue and then pushes that same tongue into her mouth and does one or two tricks that are new even to Rey. It’s not a battle because she doesn’t even try, she wants to be subjugated and she does so immediately, letting him take the lead, letting him explore whatever he wants, wishing he would explore her some more, in some other places too. She doesn’t have control and the scariest part is – she doesn’t want it.

When he pulls back, Rey’s world has changed. She’s gasping for air and her lips are completely swollen. His lips are too, and that makes them look even bigger. They’re wet and he licks them absent-mindedly. Rey wishes she could lick them for him.

His hand is still caressing her nape, slowly, gently, but his arm releases its hold on her. Rey’s hand twitches – she wants him to keep holding her like that forever. And the best thing is that she can see in his eyes that’s exactly what he wants, too.

“How about this thank you kiss?” he says, after they spent a good amount of time just losing themselves into each other’s eyes. Rey remembers something she has probably read in a book – that sometimes losing yourself in someone else is the kind of lost that it’s exactly like being found. She understands those words now. Perfectly. 

“It’s odd, because I feel like _I am_ the thankful one,” she admits, only the nicest shade of red on her cheeks.

Ben wants to kiss them, but holds back from doing so. He is still looking at her, but now she can see a shadow of worry in his eyes. 

“I know you said you don’t fall in love,” he begins, licking his lips. There’s only the slightest tremor in the hand he still keeps behind her neck as he continues, “but Rey… with your permission, I would like to try and change that.”

Rey knows, by now, that she’s lost the dare. It doesn’t matter if she actually kissed the first guy who held a door open for her, there is no way that was a thank you kiss. There is no way there can ever exists something as absurd as a thank you kiss. 

But then, was it really a romantic kiss?

Rey is not sure if she has ever loved. Her family history has left more than a few scars on her soul and she doesn’t know if she’s even capable of loving someone.

What she does know, however, is that her heart has been pulling towards Ben since the moment she first laid her eyes on him. And that, in her opinion, is a very good sign. So she smiles and it’s her hand, this time, that shifts behind his nape and through his soft locks, like she’s been wanting to do all night.

“Permission granted.”

Ben smiles, and in the heat of the moment he tries to go for another kiss, but stops to look sheepishly at her.

Rey smirks and grabs the hem of his shirt with both hands, pulls him closer and lets their lips crash together once again.

She might have to change the name of that weekend.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this fluffy fluff! I can't imagine Rose's face when Rey comes home and not only she has won the dare but she brought a whole ass boyfriend back lmao  
> Let me know in the comments what you think, I'm always thirsty for opinions!♥


End file.
